Florida Senate - 2009                                    SB 1558
       
       
       
       By Senator Deutch
       
       
       
       
       30-01452-09                                           20091558__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to impact fees; amending s. 163.31801,
    3         F.S.; authorizing a county, municipality, or special
    4         district to wholly or partially exempt by specified
    5         means affordable housing from payment of impact fees
    6         if the local government conditions the exemption upon
    7         certain requirements; providing an effective date.
    8         
    9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   10         
   11         Section 1. Section 163.31801, Florida Statutes, is amended
   12  to read:
   13         163.31801 Impact fees; short title; intent; definitions;
   14  ordinances levying impact fees; exemption for affordable
   15  housing.—
   16         (1) This section may be cited as the “Florida Impact Fee
   17  Act.”
   18         (2) The Legislature finds that impact fees are an important
   19  source of revenue for a local government to use in funding the
   20  infrastructure necessitated by new growth. The Legislature
   21  further finds that impact fees are an outgrowth of the home rule
   22  power of a local government to provide certain services within
   23  its jurisdiction. Due to the growth of impact fee collections
   24  and local governments' reliance on impact fees, it is the intent
   25  of the Legislature to ensure that, when a county or municipality
   26  adopts an impact fee by ordinance or a special district adopts
   27  an impact fee by resolution, the governing authority complies
   28  with this section.
   29         (3) An impact fee adopted by ordinance of a county or
   30  municipality or by resolution of a special district must, at
   31  minimum:
   32         (a) Require that the calculation of the impact fee be based
   33  on the most recent and localized data.
   34         (b) Provide for accounting and reporting of impact fee
   35  collections and expenditures. If a local governmental entity
   36  imposes an impact fee to address its infrastructure needs, the
   37  entity shall account for the revenues and expenditures of such
   38  impact fee in a separate accounting fund.
   39         (c) Limit administrative charges for the collection of
   40  impact fees to actual costs.
   41         (d) Require that notice be provided no less than 90 days
   42  before the effective date of an ordinance or resolution imposing
   43  a new or amended impact fee.
   44         (4) Any county or municipality may by ordinance, or a
   45  special district may by resolution, wholly or partially exempt
   46  from payment of impact fees housing that is designed to be
   47  “affordable” as defined in s. 420.0004, if the local
   48  governmental entity requires, as a condition to such exemption,
   49  that the housing is affordable to:
   50         (a) The initial purchaser or renter; and
   51         (b) Any subsequent purchaser or renter for a period of at
   52  least 15 years after the date of issuance of the certificate of
   53  occupancy.
   54         (5)(4) Audits of financial statements of local governmental
   55  entities and district school boards which are performed by a
   56  certified public accountant pursuant to s. 218.39 and submitted
   57  to the Auditor General must include an affidavit signed by the
   58  chief financial officer of the local governmental entity or
   59  district school board stating that the local governmental entity
   60  or district school board has complied with this section.
   61         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.